Did Paul ever directly praise the LORD?

[Elijah John]

Did Paul the apostle ever praise the LORD, or honor YHVH by name? As King David does in the Psalms, or the Prophets do in their writings.

Yes, there are many instances where Paul preaches, honors and praises the name of the Lord (capital "L", lower case "o r d") Christ, but how often does Paul honor LORD (all caps) YHVH by name?

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 1 by Elijah John]

Did Jesus the Messiah ever praise the LORD, or honor YHVH by name?? How many times does ANY Christian on this forum (appart from Jehovah's Witnesses) recognize that Jesus praised YHWH specifically by name? can you or any non-witness provide a single time Jesus is recorded as doing what you want from Paul?

I suspect the answer most people would give would be "No, Jesus is never recorded as praising the name of YHWH" There are even those that go so far as to suggest Jesus never once even pronounced YHWH (Jehovah's) name, let alone "praised" it, so why target Paul? That is unless you are going to accept the argument that YHWH name was indeed removed from New Testament copies. (If you are please let me know and I will provide the requested passages accordingly)

I suspect you find yourself between the "rock" of accepting the Jehovah's Witness position that often times when we read LORD in the NT it was in fact YHWH in the original text and the "hard place" of believing that neither Jesus himself nor a single first century writer has ever been recorded as praising YHWH.

An unenviable position to be in I must say.


JW

[Elijah John]

[Replying to post 2 by JehovahsWitness]

Where was LORD ever written in the New Testament? Meaning the Tetragrammaton? Very few translations outside of the NWT record this. The ASV, which you folks used to use, never uses the Divine name in the New Testament, nor does the KJV upon which it is based.

Even most translations that honor God's name in the "Old" Testament, (such as the Jerusalem Bible) do not use it in the NT.

In other ancient sources, it seems that the Divine name was used. If my memory is accurate, I remember reading that the Didache uses the Divine name, in it's original form.

But whether or not Jesus pronounced the Divine name, at least he taught "Hallowed be thy name". By contrast, Paul taught that Jesus name was above every other.

And alluding the the subject of my other thread, I think Thomas Paine was right, that "instead of God, a man is preached". At least with regard to Paul's form or Christianity.

Or maybe Jesus was God after all, and not a man?

[JehovahsWitness]

Whether or not Jesus pronounced the Divine name, at least he taught "Hallowed be thy name".

So, correct me if I'm wrong, we have "downgraded" from asking for a specific mention of the Divine name YHWH being praised, to a request for a reference with the word "name" in it as long as it can be presumed it refers to God the Father and suggest that one be praised.

JW

[Elijah John]

Whether or not Jesus pronounced the Divine name, at least he taught "Hallowed be thy name".

So, correct me if I'm wrong, we have "downgraded" from asking for a specific mention of the Divine name YHWH being praised, to a request for a reference with the word "name" in it as long as it can be presumed it refers to God the Father and suggest that one be honored. Is that about right?

OK, allow me to rephrase. Jesus preached the Father, and Paul preached Jesus. True, Paul gave lip service to the Father in his apostolic salutations, and his "to the glory of God the Father" afterthought-disclaimers, but it seems it was only, (or at least mostly) lip service. For to Paul, "to live is Christ". His all.

But yeah, I gotta admit, the fact that Jesus did not seem to pronounce the Divine name is disturbing, but like I indicated, at least he alluded to it with honor and reverence.

I guess I would be less critical of Paul if he didn't seem to put "Christ" above the Father so often, or did not so often praise the "Son" at the expense of (relatively) ignoring Father YHVH.

[JehovahsWitness]

But yeah, I gotta admit, the fact that Jesus did not seem to pronounce the Divine name is disturbing, but like I indicated, at least he alluded to it with honor and reverence.

And so did Paul...

HEBREWS 13:15
Let us continually offer to GOD a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that openly profess his NAME.

ROMANS 15:9 King James Version
And that the Gentiles might glorify GOD for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy NAME.

1 TIMOTHY 6:1
This will prevent the NAME of GOD and Christian teaching from being discredited.

[Elijah John]

But yeah, I gotta admit, the fact that Jesus did not seem to pronounce the Divine name is disturbing, but like I indicated, at least he alluded to it with honor and reverence.

And so did Paul...

HEBREWS 13:15
Let us continually offer to GOD a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that openly profess his NAME.

ROMANS 15:9 King James Version
And that the Gentiles might glorify GOD for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy NAME.

1 TIMOTHY 6:1
This will prevent the NAME of GOD and Christian teaching from being discredited.

Ahh... here's the thing. Do JWs believe that Paul penned the book of Hebrews? Most scholars do not think that was one of his letters.

But good points, still, one wonders since Paul did indeed revere God's name on occasion, why not more often? And why didn't he preach the name of the God of Israel to the Gentiles? Instead, Paul preached "Christ" to them,...constantly.

[bjs]

The word YHVH is not found in the text of the NT.

Paul often praised the Father (see Ephesians 1:3), which in context almost certainly refers to YHVH.

[brianbbs67]

This is a rabbit hole. They both revered God.

[Elijah John]

This is a rabbit hole. They both revered God.

Not a rabbit hole at all. The underlying point of the OP is that there is a reason Paul seldom if ever preaches the Father, or praises the Father. Seldom when compared to his emphasis on "Christ" anyway.

For Paul, it seems, (effectively, functionally) his God is "Christ" and not so much YHVH.

For Paul to live is "Christ" (no mention of the Father) and to die is gain.

Paul puts Christ's name above every other name, not YHVH's.

"Christ" is Paul's everything. He has, (effectively and for all practical purposes) put another God before YHVH. It's all in the emphasis.

Instead of preaching the name of YHVH, the God of Israel to all Nations, Paul preached "Christ".